i sort of wondered what would happen to bob barr after he took that interesting turn of rejecting his own cultural conservative ideas and became a libertarian. i wondered if he had a brighter future ahead of him. he might in haiti. here it is not going to happen. the scuzzy dictator stink, rudy, bob, all you guys, it follows you home. it's the economy. president obama prepares to address the nation tonight with a renewed focus on jobs and spending cuts. rewriting history. a long-time lincoln researcher confesses to tampering with a document signed by honest abe. and winter wonderland. an arctic blast leaves parts of the northeast literally frozen solid. painful. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

ms. we begin this morning with united we stand. president obama will deliver his state of the union address tonight where he hopes the theme of unity and a focus on creating jobs will hit home with congress and the nation. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more. good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. good morning. the white house tells us this is a speech that will focus in the short term on jobs and in the medium and long term on innovation and competition, making america more competitive. president obama perhaps even talking about expanding some programs. he told military families yesterday that he wants to expand government support. that is not what republicans here on capitol hill want to hear. they, in fact, earlier today before that speech will take a vote to cut about 10% out of the federal budget. some areas will be cut even more

like education. democrats say how much are you planning to cut? they need a number. $60 billion, $100 billion? those numbers have been tossed about. the fiscal year is half over. republicans saying that they probably won't be able to cut as much as they had originally promised for that reason. we do know tonight that democrats and republicans are planning to sit together for this speech. the husband of congresswoman gabrielle giffords, mark kelly, was invited, but he declined in order to stay with his wife. we're expecting the republican response to come from budget chair paul ryan, the tea party response coming from michelle bachmann of minnesota, and the white house says president obama will probably be working on this speech, tweaking it well into the afternoon. lynn? >> thank you very much. and as tracie mentioned, republican leaders have tapped paul ryan to deliver the republican response to tonight's state of the union. last night on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell,"

lawrence asked democrat bernie sanders from vermont if he's looking forward to ryan's response. >> we need a real national debate on what congressman ryan has been saying. and i applaud him for being straightforward and forthcoming in his views. essentially what he is talking about, what his blueprint for the future is of massive tax cuts for the richest people in this country, privatization of social security, massive cutbacks in medicare and medicaid and other programs that the middle class and working families of this country desperately need. so i think at a time when the middle class is collapsing, poverty is increasing, and the richest people are doing phenominally well, i think we should have a clean and respectful debate about where congressman ryan would like to take this country. >> tonight lean forward with msnbc's special coverage of the

president's state of the union address. chris matthews kicks off our coverage with "hardball"al 7:00, followed by "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" at 8:00 eastern, following the address at 9:00 eastern. a special live edition of "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" at 11:00 eastern. finally at midnight, a special live edition of "the rachel maddow show." it starts at 7:00 eastern here on more than, the place for politics. an illinois appeals court has kicked former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel off the ballot for the mayor's race in chicago. reversing local and county-level decisions, the court ruled monday emanuel did not meet a state requirement that candidates must live in the city they hope to lead for at least a year before an election. emanuel's lawyers are asking the illinois supreme court to stay the ruling and hear an expedited appeal. meanwhile, chicago's board of elections chairman has ordered printing to begin on the ballots without emanuel's name in order to be ready for january 31, that

is the start of early voting. russian officials are trying to figure out who was behind a deadly terrorist attack at moscow's busiest airport yet. at least 35 people were killed, and well over 100 injured by a suicide bomber. so far there's been no claim of responsibility. but suspicion has focused on chechen militants who claimed responsibility for recent terrorist attacks in russia including last year's double suicide bombing in the subway system that killed 40. jared laugher in, the man accuse -- loughner, the man accused in the deadly shootings, pleaded not guilty to charge he tried to kill gabrielle giffords and two of her aides. making his second court appearance monday, loughner reportedly smiled through most of the proceedings. when asked if there were any doubts about loughner's ability to understand the charges, his lawyers gave no hint of how they plan to defend the 22-year-old, saying only that they were not raising any issues at this time. more charge are expected to be

filed against loughner, some of which may carry the death penalty. now here's a look at some other stories making news and going on around america. in california, several surfers wiped out violently when a set of massive waves moved in to half moon bay. they were estimated to be 15 to 18-feet high. one wave thought to be even higher sent a surfer to the hospital. he's currently in a medically induced coma after being found floating facedown. in maryland, a 54-inch water pipe ruptured, spilling 50 million gallons of water into nearby neighborhoods, shutting down the inner loop of the beltway. it took over eight hours to fix the leak and created a nightmare commute. in new york the mercury dipped to one of the all-time city lows. the cold turned cars and fountains into virtual ice sculptures. but there were a few new yorkers in central park's zoo that felt right at home in the arctic front hitting the city.

and in california, compton's cricket club, that's right, cricket club, is about to make history. the city widely known for its poverty, crime, and violence now boasts the first all-american team to tour australia. the club named "the compton homeys," made up of latino and ex-gang members and homeless men, started playing 14 years ago. now for the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> lynn, i have a good feeling that you and i, our cricket knowledge is probably at even par. >> i was really having to google that and rely on the wikipedia version of cricket which, you know, we never do because it's not reliable. this is like a foreign language. >> yeah. it's interesting. i've watched it before, and i still don't have any clue what i was watching. >> no, we're going to stick with tennis. >> yes, much easier. let's talk about what happened yesterday. the amazing cold blast. it was only one day.

temperatures this morning, as you step outside from new york into much of portions of the mid-atlantic, is 100 times better. yesterday it was six, today it's 28. this is your typical winter morning. we've had warm air sliding up into the ohio valley, not bad in minneapolis or chicago. still a little cold up there in northernying, but again, it's -- northern new england, but again, it's warmer than yesterday. here's the scenario. we had all the cold air in place. that's leaving. now we've got this huge storm coming out of the gulf, just pouring rain from louisiana and mississippi to alabama. and this storm is going to head up the east coast. now because that cold air is gone, this is not going to be a pure snowstorm. it's going to be a wintry mess for many areas. now the deep south, you're plenty warm enough. this is just all rain from shreveport to jackson, tuscaloosa to montgomery, birmingham. atlanta, you're going to rain all day long. areas of thunderstorms will spread along the gulf coast. here's how it looks for today. areas of rain moving later today into the carolinas. now the mountains of north

carolina through the heart of the appalachians could see snow. and also northern alabama and mississippi on the back side of the storm, late tonight into early tomorrow morning, rain will probably change over it a little snow for you. maybe an inge -- an inch or so. interior sections is where it will be icy and snowy. lynn, this is -- we've had many storms this season. i think out of all the ones, this is the one i have the least confidence in as far as like predicting it because there's been a lot of variance, a lot of variables. not only where the storm's going to go, but the temperatures are borderline. >> keep an eye on it. thank you. earnings pushed wall street. what's inside your taco? and the pope -- yes, the pope -- hits the like button for facebook. your first look at the business headlines is straight ahead. >> reporter: coming up, the nhl's biggest star pulls out of the all-star game. three great finishes in the nba. and was jay cutler really hurt in the championship? [ female announcer ] it can creep up on you. dry skin.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. u.s. military officials tell nbc news that so far investigators have not been able to link wikileaks' founder julian assange to bradley manning, the army private suspected of passing on controversial documents to the whistleblowing web site. officials say investigators determined manning unlawfully downloaded secret cables and passed them on to an unauthorized person, but there's apparently no evidence he passed it directly to assange. a former engineer from hawaii has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for selling military secrets to china. prosecutors say the 66-year-old who worked on the design for the b-2 stealth bomber pocketed at least $110,000 by selling classified engine technology. white house officials say carol browner is stepping down as president obama's chief adviser on energy and climb matters in the coming weeks. her departure signals white house plans to lower the

priority of environmental legislation since the republican takeover at the house. and a noted historian has been banned for life from the national archives after confessing he altered a document signed by president abraham lincoln. thomas lowery made it appear that lincoln spared a mentally incompetent army private from the death penalty for desertion just hours before being senated in 18 -- assassinated in 1865. here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,980 after climbing 108 points yesterday. the s&p was up seven points, the nasdaq rose 28. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 119 points, but in hong kong the hang seng lost 12. a stellar start to the week put wall street's recent rally back on track. and markets into position to break through key levels. a share buyback from intel re w

renewed investors' optimism and drove the dow toward the psychological 12,000 mark. alcoa offered more fuel for the momentum, picking up 4% on rising aluminum demand. the s&p could crack its key 1,300 level today when investors weigh fresh data on home prices and consumer confidence. a packed earnings agenda includes reports from dupont, verizon, and yahoo. invidia shares soared on speculations its stock could nearly double in price this year. mcdonald's earnings fell in line with analysts' expectations, but the chain warned it will have to raise prices this year to keep up with rising food costs. investors welcomed jcpenney's aggressive overhaul plans to appoint two new board members, close underperforming stores, and do away with its mail-order catalog. american express shares dipped after the company reported earnings after the bell. chipmaker texas instruments was also down after hours in the

wake of fourth-quarter earnings that barely beat estimates. for the first time in general motors' history, it sold more cars and trucks in china last year than the u.s. taco bell is denying accusations of false advertising. a class-action suit claims its beef doesn't meet minimum federal requirements to be labeled as such. after testing found it contained less than 35% actual beef. and finally, pope benedict lifted social networking to an elevated status among catholics saying it can help create "positive relations." however, the pontiff also warned about excessive exposure to the virtual world. still a blessing. we'll take it. nfl playoff recriminations. a big upset in college hoops. and a big loss for the nhl all-star game. plus, it was a night of wild buzzer-beating finishes in the nba. sports is straight ahead. makeup is so expensive.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. in sports the new orleans hornet kept their winning streak along against the thunder the heart-stopping way. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> reporter: good morning, a handsful of nba games that went to the wire. in new orleans, thunder and hornets tied with under ten seconds to play. david west with the fadeaway with under a second left. they won 91-89. another frantic finish, this

one in toronto. raptors and grizzlies tied at 98 in the final seconds. for the win -- nothing but the bottom of the net. jailed the jumper with less than a second of play. grizzlieies hand the raptors a loss. caps and nets are two of the worst teams in the league but someone's got to win. with 1.4 seconds left, new jersey up 103-101. the last shot, but the three-pointer was off the mark. who needs carmelo? they've won three of four after stepping away from the anthony trade. the bears' season is over. speculation about jay cutler continues. he pulled out of the nfc game with a knee injury, leaving some to question his toughness. yesterday an mri revealed that cutler was injuried, suffered a sprained mcl in his left knee. the packers won and will play the steelers in the super bowl coming up. and the penguins sidney crosby continues to recover from a concussion and will skip the nhl all-star game. the arguably best player in the world has missed eight games

after taking two hit to the head earlier this month. the pitt panthers ranked second in the nation for less than 24 hours but being upset by notre dame. 19 points for hansbrough. irish eyes are smiling, they won 56-51. that's your first look at sports, i'm fred roggin. now for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill? good morning, lynn. all eyes are on new england not because of the snow this morning. there's light flurry activity, maybe a snow storm giving you a -- snow shower giving you a coating from hartford to boston. temperatures are warming up. temperatures in the 20s instead of negative 20. it's a little better. still cold from albany to boston, up into northern new england. so for today, temperatures warm, snow showers. notice that we couldn't even get to 40 today in new york. now as far as the snow event wednesday afternoon, wednesday night into thursday, this is kind of the latest thinking is that just interior sections off of i-95 would be the highest

snow totals. we'll have updates on that tomorrow. >> thank you very much. another setback for the homes man with the golden -- homeless man with the golden voice. and oprah winfrey had a secret. yesterday on her show, she revealed it. your first look at entertainment is ahead. curtis: welcome back to geico radio, it's savings, on the radio. gecko: caller steve, go right ahead. steve: yeah, um, i just got a free rate quote on geico.com, saved a ton, and it only took me 5 minutes and 12 seconds! steve: i was wondering, is that some sort of record? gecko: that's a good question. let's have a look.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. and some unwelcome visitors at the residence of england's prime minister. their equivalent to our white house, are getting their 15 minutes of fame. in fact, one of the furry rodents made its tv debut behind correspondent lucy manning from our english broadcasting partner, itn.

>> there it is. >> reporter: from number 10 to number 11, rats scurry across downing street, no political metaphor intended. my god, it's properly, properly -- they're big and aren't shy and seem to like being on tv. ignore me and look left. andy carlson still has a few more week of work left. they are looking for his replacement. yes, downing street has a rat problem. dead ones found on the grass, live ones scaring the policemen, reporters are a little braver. perhaps the rat-catcher's been a victim of the cuts so we took our own. >> any rats coming along, as far as they're concerned, this is food. they're going to eat it, they're going to die. >> reporter: is your advice to get one of those stuck outside? >> or two or three or four. shows you, doesn't it, no one's exemp. we've got probably one of the most secure environments in the whole country, and, you know, unless the -- the police officers start using their guns for something else maybe, i

don't think it would go down very well. >> reporter: no rats at the moment, but we have asked the pressing political question of the day -- is downing street going to get its own cats? the answer was no, but then a quick u-turn and they are now looking at the possibility. it won't be cameron's cats, it will be the downing street cat we're told, if they can work out who should look after it. downing street had humphrey, sherry blair had to pose with him to prove she hadn't forced him out. perhaps david cameron and nick klegg can in the spirit of the times manage a capture. just to be clear, these are not boontown rats, while we are just out of a recession. and they're not as a labor m.p. equipped fleeing a sinking ship. >> guarding the door, com. on. time for a first look at entertainment news. oprah winfrey's long-rumored secret was finally revealed on her program monday. what she called "the miracle of all miracles," win free

introduced a half sister who until recently she knew nothing about. patricia, a 48-year-old milwaukee woman, was given up for adoption by win free's mother nearly 50 years ago when the talk show host was 8 years old and living with her father. patricia knew since 2007 she was related to the talk show host but had difficulty contacting her. during that period, she said she never one considered profiting from her story. elsewhere, tmz reports ted williams, the homeless man with a golden voice, left a south texas rehab facility yesterday against medical advice. reports now say regis philbin's sudden departure from his show was all about abc wanting him to take a pay cut of millions. responding yesterday, philbin claimed he's been planning his exit for a long time. and finally, it will be christina aguilera. the chosen one will sing the "national anthem" at the super bowl. what do you think? steelers fan or packer fan?

>> i have no idea? i bet she's neutral. i don't think she's going to -- i don't think she'll come out with that. >> what about you, bill? which one are you rooting for? >> i haven't decided yet. i'm still trying to recover from sunday's loss. >> i know. i really did feel terrible for you. interior that. pull out the terrible towel, come. on. i'm lynn berry and this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. it is state of the union day, and president obama has a lot of ground to cover at 9:00 eastern time tonight. the question is, what's the big plan to get america working again, and can these speeches even break through the noise anymore? meanwhile, the president's former chief of staff runs into a brick wall in his bid to become mayor of chicago. the question is, after yesterday's court ruling, could rahm emanuel really be out of the race for good? and oprah reveals her big family secret. she's got a sister she didn't know about until a couple of months ago. the question is, i don't want to